It’s time for our second annual “Beat the Heat” campaign in which we pool our resources to buy air conditioners for needy families in the Northeast Mississippi area.

This year we will add a very special out-of-state family to our wish list. This family needs a portable unit to meet the needs of their young son. Portable units are more expensive than the small window units we provided last year but the unit we’d like to donate will serve as additional cooling and heating for them throughout the year. In addition, the portable unit will be able to go where their young son is instead of confining the family to a single room.

Good on them. No heaven as a reward, just the peace of mind that comes with helping others. You don’t need gods or scripture to realize the value of that.

Good news and bad news, folks! We’ve successfully raised enough money to buy the special air conditioner/heater combo unit. It arrived on July 12th and the family is enjoying it. I’m hoping to get a picture soon to share with you all.

The bad news is that we are still about $600 short of our goal to buy 5 or 6 regular A/C window units for families here in Mississippi. July is almost over and August is looking to be incredibly hot. Many of our poor and disabled people cannot afford to replace broken air conditioners. Others are living with only box fans and open doors for circulation.

So, if you want to contribute. Head over here and hit the donate button in the upper right hand corner (it’ll say “beat the heat”). You could also go give them a pat on the back in the form of a comment. Support for doing good work is always a good idea. :)

When not defending the planet from inevitable apocalypse at the rotting hands of the undead, JT is a writer and public speaker about atheism, gay rights, and more. He spent two and a half years with the Secular Student Alliance as their first high school organizer. During that time he built the SSA’s high school program and oversaw the development of groups nationwide. JT is also the co-founder of the popular Skepticon conference and served as the events lead organizer during its first three years.

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